Justice League #6

Published on February 29, 2012, by Matthew E. Jones - Posted in Comic Books0

4Overall Score

Story:4/10

Art:4/10

Creativity:4/10

Cyborg takes on Darkseid, and the Pandora back-up feature is cool.

Nine splash pages of Jim Lee artwork, wasted space.

The New 52’s “Justice League” is the one book that practically EVERYONE is buying, despite it actually being good or worth the $3.99 price tag it carries. Now before I’m lambasted for being yet another angry fanboy with a faceless opinion on the Internet (hey, I resemble that remark!), let me explain.

I want to love Justice League. I think everyone wants to love Justice League. I mean, what’s not to love? It’s written by DCE’s chief creative officer and features art by the company’s co-publisher. Corporate suits writing a comic book is a massive recipe for success!

Ok, maybe that paragraph was dripping with sarcastic fanboy snark. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Regardless, I think my opinion posted on this here Internet thingy has some merit. Ever since Geoff Johns went corporate for DCE, the quality of his writing has diminished greatly. His characterizations are flat, his stories are decompressed to a laughable level and not much really happens in his books anymore. Justice League is no different. Everyone just kind of haphazardly comes together to take on Darkseid, who they don’t even meet until issue #5 of the 6-issue inaugural arc. (Nice way to make your readers care about the villain of the story, Geoff. Just throw him in at the end, no-one will care. It worked in Blackest Night, right?)

The only part of the story that has any resonance would be Cyborg’s story. But he only gets a couple pages in each issue. And that would be fine, if the other storylines had any sort of emotional impact. How can I care about Batman or Green Lantern if they do nothing but bicker like high schoolers? How can I like Superman when he’s kind of a dick and is clearly shown killing a Parademon in issue #3?

The book is just flat and boring. It’s being done by corporate executives. Sorry, but Geoff Johns and Jim Lee are no longer one of “us.” They’re on the other side of that fence now. They have different priorities, and that’s why JL is so terrible. There’s no enthusiasm behind it. It’s just a book filling a need with big names on the cover to sell it. It’s a “day job” book, rather than one filled with passion and creativity.

With that out of the way, how was issue #6? Any good? Yes and no. Cyborg has his time to shine as he takes down Darkseid. The Pandora back-up feature was nice, as it gives some exposition for this “new universe” that she created. I’m sure this will be extrapolated on in the Free Comic Book Day book DC is putting out that focuses on Pandora.

However, as much as I love Jim Lee’s artwork…, did this issue really need NINE FUCKING SPLASH PAGES?! That shit is downright CRIMINAL! For people who want an example of why decompression is killing our beloved industry, look no further than Justice League. That is so much wasted space in a $4 book. What’s worse is that WE let the industry get away with shit like this.

The funny thing is that I STILL want to love this book. I’m looking forward to Gene Ha’s 2-issue fill-in for Jim Lee. Honestly, I don’t care if Lee ever comes back. The way this book is now, I don’t see myself reading any more than 12 issues. Geoff Johns, you are on notice!!! You’ve got 6 issues to prove to me that your inner fanboy hasn’t been killed by corporate success. Wow me. You certainly aren’t doing it now. But what the hell do I know, right? This is the industry’s top-selling book. Shame on us all.

A somewhat competent salesman by day and an aspiring part-time freelance comic book writer by night, Matthew E. Jones has countless opinions on the Internet, ranging from movies and music to comics and...comics. You are free to read them, dissect them, even mock them. Want to read more about Matthew E. Jones, check out my blog at: www.thevintagewarrior.blogspot.com